Passport to Texas

American alligator, image courtesy of www.exploreitnature.com

Wildlife: New Theories about Alligators Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Drought affects different species in different ways. In the case of the American Alligator, recent dry conditions have affected this once-threatened species’ reproduction.

15— What we found was the size of the clutch of eggs – or the number of eggs in the clutch – that females lay doesn’t change during drought years. But, the number of hatchlings that are produced from a clutch of eggs decreases substantially.

Cord Eversole is a graduate student at A&M-Kingsville and a research assistant at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. He studies gators.

12— We thought that what we were going to end up finding was during these drought years the clutch size would decrease, but the number of alligators produced from the clutch would stay constant across the years. We found the opposite.

He said turning old theories inside out is exciting.

26— The exciting thing about alligator research in general is that — believe it or not –there’s been very few studies conducted on them throughout their range, but more specifically in Texas, there’s only been a handful of studies conducted in the state. And so, a lot of the information we gather from my study and studies that are coming up in the future, they’re going to produce brand new information, put new twists on old thoughts of how things work with alligators in general.

The more we understand environmental effects on species like the American Alligator, the better able we are to manage them.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Cord Eversole with a small alligator.

Wildlife: Alligators and Drought Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tussling with alligators isn’t just for reality TV.

09— Typically, anything that’s under about seven feet in length, we capture from a boat. The real small ones, like the hatchlings, you can grab with your hand; they’re pretty harmless.

The bigger ones take more caution, finesse, and duct tape, says 25-year-old Cord Eversole, a graduate student at A&M-Kingsville.

09— We’re real fortunate to be able to be involved in a study looking at reproduction – in particular – and how drought affects hatching success of the eggs.

He studies the reptiles in his role as a research assistant at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

22— A large majority of our data was collected through mark/recapture, and so we tagged roughly 250 alligators at Brazos bend SP, and then captured [them] a year later, so that we could look at how much they had grown in a year’s time, and how the data that we gathered differs from data that was gathered in other parts of their range in the United States.

Thus far, his data reveals something rather unexpected. And we’ll hear about that tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Texas Wild Rice

Conservation: Texas Wild Rice Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas Wild Rice is an endangered species that exists only in a two mile stretch of the San Marcos River.

06— Just in that two-mile stretch. Because, what happens is, you go further down the river and the river‘s character changes.

Botanist, Jackie Poole says where the rice grows, the spring-fed river is clear and a constant 72 degrees; but, farther downstream…

10— It’s very different. It starts to become more turbid, and loses that constant temperature quality. So, it’s just not as good habitat further downstream.

When asked to describe the plant, Poole laughed and said it’s like flowing hair.

15— [chuckle] That’s probably the best way to say it. If you envision someone with long, flowing hair, the leaves are submerged under water. And they can be up to 10 to 15 feet long, and so they just wave underneath the water with the current.

So here we have a very rare and endangered plant that only grows underwater along a two mile stretch of river. So, does that mean we never see it?

17— It does flower. And when it flowers, the flowering stalks are produced above the water. So then you would see flowering stalks that look like, um, maybe most grasses – like a Johnson grass. I hate to use that example of a noxious, invasive species. But it does resemble that.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Endangered Texas Snowbell; image by Chase Fountain

Conservation: Rare and Endangered Texas Plants Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We have a fair share of threatened and endangered plant species in Texas.

08— Actually listed endangered or threatened plant species, we have probably right now around thirty-two.

Botanist, Jackie Poole says Texas has even more rare species.

15— We maintain a list of the rarest species in the state, which is about 250. And then we have about another 200 species that are not very common, but not at the level of being endangered.

One of the rarest of the rare is Texas Wild Rice.

11— It only occurs in two miles of the San Marcos River and, of course, the San Marcos River, is within the city of San Marcos almost its entire length. So there are all kinds of pressures.

Pressures like recreation and development… but money and manpower through the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan benefits the species, which has only ever existed in the clear, warm, spring fed waters of the San Marcos River.

20— The only similar river in Texas, really, is the Comal River. And interestingly, the father of Texas botany – Ferdinand Lindheimer – lived in New Braunfels on the Comal River, but he never collected the plant. So, it suggests that it certainly wasn’t at his backdoor step. We think it’s always been in the San Marcos River and that’s it.

Tomorrow: getting to know Texas Wild Rice.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Dead bird being tagged on Pelican Island.

Restoration: Galveston Bay Oil Spill Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A late March collision between two ships in Galveston Bay caused a leak in one of them, spilling more than168-thousand gallons of fuel oil into the Gulf.

06— This time of year is particularly of concern to us because it’s the spring migration, we’ve got a lot of migratory shore birds moving through.

Andy Tirpak is with the Ecosystem Resources Assessment Team at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

08— So, in essence we’ve got oil on the beach where birds are coming through to rest, to feed, as they continue their migration. So it’s challenging right now.

Shortly after the spill, rescuers discovered oil-slicked and injured birds all along the coastline. Biologist A.J. Vale, with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is among the many wildlife advocates on hand to save them.

10— It’s just tough seeing the birds all oiled and struggling. They’re trying to clean themselves and they ingest the oil and it must make them really sick.

Andy Tirpak says they’re working against the clock to clean up this vital ecosystem.

10— It’s not just that we’re going to try to save the birds. If we try to save the birds – that’s great, that’s good – but we also need to be worried about impacts in the sand and the things that live in the sand that the birds are feeding upon.

Hundreds of shorebirds are dead or oil coated. By early April, oil from the spill in Galveston Bay drifted ashore on Padre Island National Seashore. Check for updates on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.